Wartime Britain

What was life like in Britain during the Second World War (1939–45)? Here we explore rationing, evacuation measures, the Blitz, crime, and the role of women

General History

War and military history podcast episodes

Diners watch a waitress chalk up the dishes offered on the day's menu at a British Restaurant in Gillingham, 1941. (Photo by Reuben Saidman/ Popperfoto via Getty Images)

Eat for victory: the British Restaurants of WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

circa 1923: A Remembrance Day poster issued by the British Legion after World War One, reminding people to wear a Flanders poppy on November 11th. (Photo by Bob Thomas/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Why we should remember...When the paper poppy became a symbol of remembrance. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill delivering his famous 'iron curtain' speech at Westminster College

Second World War

8 of Churchill’s greatest speeches

Women queue for potatoes in a greengrocer's shop in London, c1945. (Photo by Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer/IWM via Getty Images)

Saving food, saving lives: rationing in the Second World War

Krystyna Skarbeck, also called Christine Granville

History heroMichael Morpurgo chooses Krystyna Skarbek (1908–1952). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

AFS firemen tackle a blitz fire amidst the rubble surrounding St Paul's Cathedral, London. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

Your guide to the Blitz, plus 9 places affected by the bombings

VE Day revellers blowing party trumpets

Second World War

In pictures: jubilant VE Day street party celebrations

Expelled Germans leaving Poland's western territories

"The war without an end": what happened in Europe after VE Day?

Crowds in Piccadilly Circus in London celebrate VE Day

Countdown to VE Day: the week World War 2 ended in Europe

A woman is carried away on a stretcher following a German bombing raid on London, c1940. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The dangers of the Blitz spirit

Sir Nicholas Winton

Second World War

The 'British Schindler' who saved 669 children from the Nazis

Franklin D Roosevelt and Sir Winston Churchill

Secrets of Churchill’s War Rooms

Members of the Home Guard train racing pigeons as messengers in Blackburn, July 1940. Soon, carrier birds like this would be supplying vital intelligence on German arms factories and troop movements in occupied Europe. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The pigeons’ war on Hitler

A colour illustration of First World War allies, the German Reich and Austria-Hungary, featuring soldiers shaking hands, their troops and national flags, c1915. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

First World War

Q&AWho was involved in the First World War? Who was on each side?

Why Churchill’s reputation is still on the line

Winston Churchill. (Photo by Getty Images)

Did Churchill’s postwar speeches save the world?

Four young members of the largest group of Kindertransport refugees arrive at Southampton, England, in March 1939. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Remembering the Kindertransport

The Ghent Altarpiece. (Image by Getty Images)

Who were the real monuments men of the Second World War?

Members of the Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill LNER (London and North Eastern Railway) LDV (Local Defence Volunteers) dressed in their civilian clothes march along a platform passing a steam locomotive on 1 July 1940 in London. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Dad’s Army guide to defending Britain

Spies through the ages podcast

Spies through the ages. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Second World War

5 facts about the Bevin Boys

Norsk Hydro's Vermork plant

The Special Operations Executive: Churchill's secret army

The postwar world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Wendy Webster. (Photo by Claire Wood/BBC)

Books interview with Wendy Webster: “In its finest hour, Britain’s population was multiethnic and multinational”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A crowd gathers to watch the witnesses arrive for the trial of John George Haigh, the 'acid bath murderer', in Lewes, East Sussex, July 1949. (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

10 facts about crime on the home front in the Second World War

Britain’s secret wartime prison. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

'Darkest Hour': an interview with director Joe Wright

Churchill’s darkest hour. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill leaves a cabinet meeting

Churchill’s days of destiny